Which Apps Do You Have Pinned in Chrome OS?

Take a quick perusal of our Google+ Community and you’ll come across lots and lots of Chrome OS screenshots, typically from people showing off their desktop wallpaper.

Being a nosey so-and-so — something content for this site hinges on this, after all — I often look at these awesome desktop snaps to get an unscientific glance at what apps are proving popular or most frequently used, and maybe discover a few new ones to write about.

It might even be something you do yourself. I’ve often been sent comments similar to these after posting a few of my own screenshots:

“What’s the app with the red icon? What about the one with the blue dot in the middle that’s left of Gmail, and 2 spaces right of Spotify? How’d you get Feedbin on your panel?”

This got me thinking. Rather than coyly hunt for screenshots, why don’t I make it a bit of a ‘thing’? And so…

What’s On Your App Shelf?

This is the question I’m asking the Chrome OS users amongst you. Which apps, be they packaged or hosted, do you keep festooned across your app shelf? Are they your favourites or simply the ones you use the most?

To kick things off here’s the desktop shelf of my Chromebook. The apps I keep pinned are not necessarily my favourite apps, but they are my most used. In keeping them pinned they ‘sync’ to my other Chrome OS device, helping ensure I always have the same apps, in the same spot, almost literally to hand.

What about you?

So, over to you: which apps do you have pinned to your Chrome OS app shelf and why? Let us know in the comments below, on Facebook or in our Google+ Community — and don’t forget to share a screenshot, too!

Is there some flag I can enable/disable to have my “Add shortcut to this website…” bookmarks save with the website’s favicon instead of with the one letter and color?

Guest

chrome://flags/#enable-streamlined-hosted-apps

Allen

I have that flag enabled. But I’d like the apps to save with the website’s favicon instead of with a letter and one color. Take a look: http://imgur.com/a/Cv0Rp
I’d like the websites to save like the 2nd image

Frederic MANSON

Chrome, Files, sFTP, JSTorrent, Subtitle Videoplayer, Quick Note.
I only put the most used apps.

I feel that like they should change the whole idea of pinning apps, soon there will be a lot of good apps
(android apps) that people will want to use fast and a new look would be more realistic for a desktop. A new look is about due, rather then a whole row of apps, and if its filled then what a new bottom row of apps ?

Noah LaRoy

I agree except I think they should allow you to put folders and app icons all over the desktop kind of like windows/mac. Also an Expose-like feature from Mac could prove nice for a touchscreen Chromebook as an app drawer?

Drive, Files, G+, and Netflix. I used to have Crosh Shell but I’ve disabled Dev Mode on my devices as I haven’t really used command line stuff in awhile. If some of my media apps improve, I might start pinning them but for now it is easier to navigate to my files in Files.app and launch from there

Taylor

Chrome, Gmail, YouTube, Files, Spotify and Netflix. I like to keep it simple and tidy.

Chrome, Gmail, Gmail Offline, Google Search, You Tube, Google Drive, MS One Drive, Google Keep, Google Play Music.
Gmail Offline because I commute to places with no wifi. Google Drive to keep documents in sync when I go on vacation outside the country. One Drive for those weak moments when I gotta have a MS Word file. Google Keep to keep the quick shopping list notes I write on my phone in sync with everything else. Google Play Music because I have a regular subscription and keep hopping from device to device during the day or when I apartment-sit for friends that have stereo systems that are too complex for me to figure out.